Inside the Rafa Nadal Academy, a tennis talent hotbed

MANACOR – The soft thud of bouncing balls and coaches’ orders echo over the courts at the Rafa Nadal Academy, the tennis “factory” the Spanish star dreamt into reality, which is also his great legacy to the sport and to his island, Mallorca.

“It came from Rafael and his father’s idea of staying involved in the sport when Rafael’s career was over,” Toni Nadal, his uncle and former coach, said at the academy in the 22-time Grand Slam winner’s home town of Manacor.

“He’s lasted much longer than we thought,” added Toni, with a smile.

He is the academy’s tennis director, speaking to AFP while overseeing some of the sport’s most promising youngsters running drills.

The Spanish great is taking a break from tennis to try and

recover from his injury problems

but keeps a keen eye on his academy.

He is often seen there, like on June 14 when he presided over the graduation ceremony for 49 students and players, alongside women’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

Nadal also chose it as the location of his May announcement that he was stepping away from the game ahead of his

planned comeback and retirement in 2024.

“This would be my goal – stopping, to try and face probably the last year of my sporting career with at least the guarantees of being able to enjoy it,” the 37-year-old said at the time.

The academy’s courts are where one of the greatest players of all time will prepare for his comeback, along with the students, who can sometimes enjoy rallies with the 14-time French Open champion.

“He talks to the coaches on a regular basis, he explains his vision to them, he trains here all the time and trains with the kids, he gives them his way of doing things and his advice,” said Toni.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play with him several times,” recalled 20-year-old Daniel Rincon, the 2021 US Open junior winner, on a terrace at the training centre.

“He helps us a lot, in the breaks or during the exercises he tries to help us.

“He wants us all to improve and he gives us his grain of sand, and for us it is very important that Rafa Nadal is telling you something.”

Norway’s two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud, fourth in the world rankings, trained at the academy aged 19, while he was ranked 143rd and looking to break into the elite.

However, it is not just tennis that the athletes live for. Besides the 40 indoor and outdoor clay and hard courts, there is also an international school where they can study and prepare for university.

Members of the academy also enjoy other facilities such as swimming pools, padel courts and even a small seven-a-side football pitch, with the aim of not only forming tennis players but also “producing the best people possible”, according to French coach Jeremy Paisan.

Responsible for junior players aged between 14 and 18, Paisan noted: “The most important thing is the values we transmit.”

Motivational quotes from Nadal are displayed around the academy.

“During my career I learnt to suffer,” read one. Another said: “I always work with a goal in mind and the goal is to improve as a player and as a person.”

There is also a museum that highlights Nadal’s achievements.

Toni said his nephew’s success is due all to his perseverance and hard work, something he tries to make his pupils at the academy remember.

“What I pass on to the youngsters is the message, ‘The one who works the hardest is the one who has the best chance of success, so I’m going to work harder than the rest’,” he said.

“Success (for the academy) is that every kid who comes here makes the most of their time and when they leave, whether they have been successful or not, they feel they have not wasted their time.” AFP